Brooke Henderson hoping to end LPGA season with a bang, with a little help from dad:
NAPLES, Fla.—At the penultimate event of this year’s LPGA Tour, Dave Henderson returned to coach his daughter for the first time since January 2020.
Brooke Henderson finished fifth, her seventh top-10 finish in an otherwise “down” year, by her own admission, and Dave Henderson — who is part swing guru, security guard and mental coach — was pleased with what he saw after nearly two years of helping from afar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now Brooke Henderson is hoping she’ll carry over that momentum to the CME Group Tour Championship, the season finale on the LPGA Tour. And this week’s tournament is one she thinks she can win, which is not always the case.
“Some weeks you’re thinking about a top-10 finish because you’re working on specific things and if you’re in the hunt you give it a go. But this week you tee it up on Thursday with only one thing really on your mind,” Henderson told the Star. “It’s taken a few years to get that approach settled in my mind, but hopefully this year’s the one.”
The CME Group Tour Championship is the culmination of the season-long Race to CME Globe. Henderson, who has notched three straight top-10 finishes at this event, sits ninth in the standings. However, anyone who wins the tournament this week also wins the Race to CME Globe and will collect the biggest first-place prize in women’s golf — US$1.5 million.
Henderson spent a month back home in Canada through October. She said despite a worldly 12 months she’s feeling great, energy-wise, as she hopes to cash a big cheque this week.
“In a way I’m a little bit sad that the season is ending because I feel like my game is picking up steam,” said Henderson.
The 24-year-old said having her father back on site on the LPGA Tour (her mother, Darlene, is also in Naples) is more of a mental relief than anything. The pair — along with Henderson’s sister and caddie Brittany — have been sharing swing videos via FaceTime, but the in-person effort is obviously different.
Dave Henderson told the Star his main objective while he was at home was to keep encouraging his daughter to follow their game plans. He did notice “a lot of little things” on lines and angles into greens, but golf is all about numbers and he said he’s been pleased to see how his daughter played in 2021.
Henderson’s putting remains her Achilles heel — she’s 114th on Tour in putting average — but her ball-striking has continued to be solid. Henderson sits fourth in the greens in regulation category and her marked consistency is reflected in a scoring average that’s top 10 on Tour.
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“All her numbers are just as good, or better, as they’ve been all the way along,” said Dave Henderson. “We’d like to make that one-more-putt a round, since that’s four shots a week. But overall? Outstanding.”
To win this week Henderson will need to top a pair of golfers that have had all-time seasons on the LPGA Tour.
Both Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda have won four times this season (with Korda also winning Olympic gold). They’ll be grouped together for Thursday’s opening round as No’s 1 and 2 in the Race to CME Globe standings with Lydia Ko, who sits third.
The trio all have Canadian connections. Korda, the world No. 1 and who won last week at the Pelican Women’s Championship, is dating Toronto native Andreas Athanasiou, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings. Jin Young Ko, this week’s defending champion, won the CP Women’s Open in 2019 in a final-round battle with Henderson. And Lydia Ko won the CP Women’s Open in back-to-back years and currently works with Burlington, Ont.’s Sean Foley — one of the world’s top golf coaches who counts Tiger Woods as one of his former pupils.
Despite the stiff competition, Henderson said there’s a comfort level this week that’s unlike any other on the Tour. Her home is about 20 minutes from the Tiburón Golf Club and she has a strong familiarity to the grass and weather conditions of Southwest Florida.
That comfort combined with her recent good play, current head space, and familial support, she said, has Canada’s winningest golfer — on either the PGA or LPGA Tour — hopeful to add to her trophy total.
“It’s nice to have the whole family back together,” Henderson said. “I feel like my game is in a really good spot and I love this course, so hopefully a fast start and I can keep it going.”
Source: thepeterboroughexaminer.com